


Like a Rolling Stone

by sad_eyed_lady_of_the_low_lands



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: I mean EVERYONE - Freeform, cannon typical everything, crossover fic, neurodivergent julian, ok like everyone is in it, this fic is abandond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-03-19 08:08:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3602730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sad_eyed_lady_of_the_low_lands/pseuds/sad_eyed_lady_of_the_low_lands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew of the defiant find themselves flung into the delta quadrant, directly into the path of the USS Voyager, and now have to figure out who, or what brought them there, and how they can get home. Will include such beauties as; Tom and Julian being macho on the holodeck, and Nelix and Garak bonding over fashion. (Please tell me if you spot spelling/grammar errors so I can fix them)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I like to keep things as close to canon as possible so feel free to read this a shippy but be warned there probably won't be any non canon romance. Set in season five for DS9, sometime after Doctor Bashir I Presume, and around season four for voyager, voyager has less of a plot so I've taken some liberties with timings.

“What the hell just happened?” Captain Benjamin Sisko grabs on to the side of the captain’s chair and heaves himself to his feet.  
“Working on it” Dax is back in her seat, furiously taping at her console.  
The scene on the bridge is one that’s become all too familiar recently; the lights on the bridge are low, flickering, behind him a flaming console’s filling the room with smoke. Several of his officers are sprawled over the deck, Kira’s on her hands and knees behind her post, cussing in rapid Bajoran, she stumbles to her feet. Worf is still standing, bleeding slightly from the forehead, he frowns at the readout in front of him, looking even more Klingon than usual in the dim light, half his hair loose and wild around his face. An ensign is dead, slumped over in her seat and half obscured by the smoke bellowing from her station, Sisko takes a moment and squeezes his eyes shut, her name was Kelly, beside her Garak is sprawled on the floor, unconscious, at least he hopes. From the other side of the room Nog groans, the Ferengi apparently managed to keep his seat at the price of having his head slammed into a wall.  
“Is everyone alright?” Kira barks, moving towards him,  
“I will live” Worf, stoic as ever.  
“Oh yeah” Dax doesn’t look up “juuuust peachy!”  
“Cadet?” Kira turns to Nog  
“I- I’m ok!”... “I think”  
Their attention turns to the smoking console, Nog grabs a fire extinguisher and aims a jet of CO2 at the offending blaze, Kira grabs Kelly pulling her a safe distance away and pressing her fingers to her neck, after a second she catches his gaze, and shakes her head.  
“Damn!” he resists the urge to kick something, “what about Mr Garak?” He almost doesn’t want to ask, there’s no love lost between them, but as much as he might dislike it, they need the tailor, plain and simple.  
Kira moves to crouch next to the Cardassian, “He’s alive, unconscious, his vitals are weak”  
Sisko breathes a sigh of relief, and hits his comm badge. “Sisko to Bashir” he barks, there’s no response, “Sisko to sick bay!” nothing, “doctor respond!” he waits a few tense seconds and hits the badge again “Sisko to all stations, report!”  
“Hate to tell you this Benjamin, but internal comm lines are down” Dax swivels her chair round to face him, shrugging apologetically.  
“Well, someone get them back up! NOW!”  
“Can’t, not from here anyway, main powers out, back up’s barely functioning, all I’ve got access to is emergency systems, you’ll have to speak to engineering”  
Sisko scrubs a hand along the back of his head, “I’m going down there, Major, you’ve got the bridge, Dax you’re with me”  
“What about Garak?”  
“What about him?” he frowns at Kira.  
“He needs medical attention, there’s nothing we can do for him here” Kira looks altogether unimpressed to be advocating for the tailors welfare  
“We are passing by that way” Dax lifts an eyebrow beseechingly.  
Sighing he strides over and squats next to the unconscious man, “Garak!” He shakes his shoulder, the Cardassian groans in response hands curling protectively around his head. Dax kneels down on his other side and puts a hand on his arm “you with us?” she ask gently.  
“Just about” his usual dry tone is somewhat forced, “although, if someone could kindly explain what just happened?”  
“We’re still trying to figure that out” Dax tells him, helping him sit up, Garak squeezes his eyes shut and presses a hand against his head.  
“You think you can stand?” Jadzia offers him a hand, Garak scowls at her.  
“Does it look like I can stand?” Even disoriented and probably concussed Garak manages to sound scathing.  
Together they manage to get Garak on his feet, you’d think this would be easy considering Garak is almost a foot shorter than Sisko, but he’s essentially a dead weight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voyager will be in it soon, I promise, chapter after next if all goes well.  
> (Tell me if you see mistakes, please?)

The infirmary’s a mess, although Sisko’s pleased to note there’s only three other casualties, unfortunately this doesn’t negate the fact that Julian’s the only doctor on bored. Diplomatic missions don’t exactly require a high number of medical personnel, Julian’s only really there as a courtesy, or he was supposed to be anyway. Given the way things turned out Sisko’s glad he brought the doctor after all. Julian looks up from the plasma burn he’s treating as they enter, his eyes widen a little as he catches site of them, whether this is due to the arrival of his captain or the state of his friend Sisko’s not sure. Although Garak’s looking somewhat better now, he regained enough of his balance that Sisko barely has to help him anymore.  
“Doctor” Sisko calls,  
“Yeah, uh, just, uh-put him on the bed, over there” Julian gestures vaguely with his free hand to one of the unoccupied beds.   
Sisko turns to help Garak but the Cardassian gently removes his arm from his grasp and smiles,  
“Thank you captain, but I believe I can make it to the other side of the room without further injuring myself, although your concern is appreciated”   
Sisko resists the urge to roll his eyes, just. And Garak makes his way, slightly unsteadily, to the bio-bed Julian gestured to.   
Waiting until the patient is stabilised he pulls Julian aside,  
“What the hell is going on?” Julian looks ok, physically, there’s a nasty bruise on his cheek, but he mostly just looks confused and rather alarmed.  
“Good question doctor” He sighs, “We’re working on it, right now I need to get to engineering”  
Julian nods “can you give me some idea what sort of casualties I should expect?”  
Ever the professionally, Sisko shakes his head “sorry Julian, everything of any use is down, I’m afraid you’ll just have to be ready for anything”  
“I was afraid you were going to say that, Sir” He pauses, face uncharacteristically serious “I could really use a few more pairs of hands, nurse Wilson won’t be able to help for at least another hour and I can’t get hold of anyone else on my staff, if we’re expecting a high body count, well, there’s only so much I can do on my own”  
“I’ll see what I can do, but getting this ship up and running is my first priority”  
“I understand” he forces a smile “I’m sure I’ll manage”  
“I’m sure you will, doctor”, the man is nothing, if not resourceful, “but I’ll see about assigning you some more staff as soon as I can.”

Dax is greeted to engineering by a blast of acrid smoke and the computer informing her of an imminent core breach; so, she reflects making for the nearest console, pretty much business as usual then. The next few minutes are a blur of sparks and klaxons, and O’Brien cussing under his breath as he patches the containment field back together while she wrestles with the plasma flow.   
“Ok!” O’Brien huffs, leaning away from the core and rubbing his back “that should hold her for now”  
“These repairs are gonna take a while chief” Dax squints at the monitor  
“I know, whatever that was, it banged the ship up pretty bad”  
Jadzia nods her agreement, attention mostly on the readout in front of her.  
“What-uh, what was that anyway” Miles leans towards her, eyebrows furrowed slightly  
“Tell you what chief, you get me sensors and I’ll get right on that” she gives him a playful wink.  
“Chief!” Sisko strides into engineering and turns towards Dax and O’Brien  
“Benjamin! Talk about late to the party” she ribs “you missed all the fun”   
Ben spares a moment to grin at her, “how’s she looking chief?”  
“Not great, main powers offline, back-up’s barely enough to stop the core breaching, pretty much all major systems are damaged” he trails off casting his gaze around slightly hopelessly.  
“How soon can you have engines back up, I’d like to be able to get out of here quickly should the need arise”  
Miles just shakes his head “Sir, I’m not sure I can get the engine’s back online, whatever I do, I’m gonna need to shut down the core for the next 72 hours at least, and that’s only so I can be sure it won’t blow the ship to pieces”  
Sisko rubs his face, sighing heavily, “what about sensors?”  
“Well….” Miles breaks off tapping hurriedly at a screen, “if I shut of the core and rout power from the containment field and the plasma manifolds, I should be able to get you short range sensors”  
“Do it!” Sisko barks, Miles nod’s gesturing to a few crewmen to follow him, he grabs a tool kit and tugs a panel off a nearby wall.  
“I think I can get comm’s back up if I just- AH HAH!” Jadzia grins at Sisko “that should do it”  
“Good work old man” he returns her grin briefly, before turning on his heels, striding towards the door and tapping the comm badge “Sisko to all personnel, we are currently at red alert, I need all officers at their stations.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And its the moment we've all been waiting for!   
> (Disclaimer, I am not a doctor, medical stuff in this fic is 90% bull, feel free to correct me)  
> As ever, pointing out spelling/grammar mistakes is appreciated.

Garak’s siting on the edge of a biobed, Julian to his side running a tricorder over the side of his head with one hand, the other resting on his shoulder in a vain attempt to stop his patient from moving.  
“Hold still!” Julian sighs loudly as his friend shifts, yet again “Garak! Would you please just let me scan you?”  
“Really doctor” Garak eye’s the scanning device suspiciously “must you wave that thing in my face?”  
Before he can duck his head out of range again Julian’s other hand whips out grabs, him by the chin and yanks his head back into position. There’s nothing particularly threatening about the position. The doctor’s grip while firm certainly isn’t painful but most of his palm is pressed against Garak’s throat and Garak can think of at least a dozen ways he could be incapacitated or killed in under a second from this position. Really, he should be doing everything in his power to remove himself from Julian’s grip, but he finds he doesn’t mind so much.   
“You must be more concussed than you thought!” he scoffs “honestly, if Tain could see you now, you should know better than to trust him by-”  
His thoughts are interrupted by Julian humming faintly to himself. Garak’s attention snaps back to the doctor, who’s frowning at the tricorder’s read out, eyebrows drawn together, features tight with….. Is that concern?  
“Doctor?” Garak probes.  
Julian lowers the tricorder and fixes his gaze on Garak. “You’re bleeding into your skull, it’s not serious but it usually requires surgery” he says, his face a mask of cool professionalism.   
“I see” Garak nods, “well, neurosurgery isn’t exactly what I planned to do with my afternoon, but I’m ready when you are, doctor.”  
“It’s not that simple Garak I-“he breaks off, dropping his gaze and rubbing a hand through his hair, “I can’t do it here, too much of my equipment’s broken and I’d need at least one assistant.”  
“So, doctor, what are we going to do?”  
“Well, you’re stable for now, and there’s a good chance it’ll stop on its own”  
“And if it doesn’t?”  
“The bleeds small so, by the time it becomes a problem we’ll probably be back on the station where I can do something about it” Julian’s face softens, “Garak, you’re going to be alright, for now the best thing I can do is give you something for the splitting headache you’re pretending you don’t have and leave you to get some rest ok?”  
He reaches for a hypo, and Garak begrudgingly offers him his neck.

“Ok, try it now sir” Mile’s voice floats out of a comm badge, and Sisko nods to Worf who taps at the controls in front of him. They’re standing on the bridge, Worf at his usual tactical post Sikso in the center looking towards the non-functional view screen. The room is free now from smoke and injured crew members, leaving him, Worf, Nog and two other low ranking officers in command, the other’s having been reassigned to help with the repairs, it’s not like they’re going anywhere soon after all.   
“Internal sensors are operational” Worf announces.  
“Report” Sisko barks, turning to look at his officer.   
“Hull breaches on decks two and three, emergency force fields are holding, external sensors are offline, the warp drive is offline, the cloak is offline, the-“  
“Thank you Mr Worf!” Sisko cuts in “I get the picture, tell me is there any good news”  
“Casualty reports are coming in, most injuries are minor and there have been no fatalities” Warf says, “Repairs to main systems are underway, although it is unlikely they will be completed any time soon”  
“Excellent” Sisko grimances, and taps his comm badge “Sisko to engineering, how’re those external sensors coming chief?”  
“Nearly ready sir should have basic sensors online right about……. Now”   
Sisko nods to Warf again, who frowns at his console “long range scanners are still offline sir” he says.  
“Well then, get me short range scans!” Sisko snaps.   
“Yes sir”  
There’s a moment of silence on the bridge, all attention is on Worf as he plays with the controls.  
“Sir!” The Klingon looks mildly alarmed, although it’s hard to tell with Worf “I do not believe we are still in Bjoran space”  
“Well the where are we?”  
“I-“ Worf squints at the readout again, “I do not know, sensors are unable to get a match to our location, however I am not detecting any of the gravimetric readings normally found near the worm hole”  
“What are you reading?”  
“I can see nothing to indicate our lo- Wait! Sir I am reading a ship, the warp signature is Federation!”  
“Can you identify her?”   
“No sir, either our computers are malfunctioning or she is not listed in our data base.”  
“Interesting” Sisko turns back towards the front of the bridge “on screen Mr Worf, let’s try this the old fashioned way.”  
The view screen flickers to life and a grainy image of an unmistakably federation ship, silhouette by what is unmistakably not Bjoran space fills the screen.   
“That is not possible!” Worf’s gaze flicks between the ship and his captain and back again.  
The ship, although slightly distorted by the defiant’s barely function sensors is still clear, and close enough to make out the writing on the hull declaring her the “ U.S.S VOYAGER, NCC-74656.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voyager makes a proper appearance!   
> This chapter was originally going to be longer, but I shortened it in the name of faster updates. I promise next chapter will hold the moment you've all been waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok it's been awhile since I last posted anything so I just thought I'd let you all know, this fic is NOT being abandoned, BUT I have exams and general uni rubbish going on at the moment so I may be slow to update which I'm really sorry about but hopefully you understand. So yeah, this might be slow getting updates but it WILL be getting them and faster updates will resume when I'm done freaking out over course work.

“MISTER Paris!” Captain Kathryn Janeway straightens herself, and reaches to fix her hair.  
“Hey! Don’t look at me” a rather affronted Tom Paris, spins in his chair to face her, throwing his hands up in mock surrender “I didn’t do anything!”  
“Uh, Sir? I uh, I don’t know how but, we’ve moved”  
“Yes, I get that Mr Kim”  
“No, I mean, we’ve moved, moved”  
If she didn’t know her officer so well she might have found this annoying, instead she looks to him with exasperated amusement.  
“I think what Mr Kim is trying to say, captain, is that we are presently 50 light years from our previous position “ Tuvak fixes her with his steady, Vulcan gaze.  
“50 light years?” she stares back at her chief of security “how?”  
“Was it a worm hole?” Chakotay moves around the bridge towards Tuvak  
“I do not believe so, I am not picking up any of the gravimetric distortions associated with wormhole activity” he says, frowning a little at the read out.  
“Spatial anomaly?” Chakotay peers over Tuvak’s shoulder.  
“I am not detecting any evidence of any sort of anomalies, however, without more detailed scans it is hard to say”   
“Wait! Captain” Tom’s looking at his station again, attention firmly on the helm read out “I’m…. I’m picking up a ship off our port bow…. It has a federation signature”   
“On screen!” attention on the bridge is firmly on the view screen as it comes to life revealing the small and obviously distressed form of the Defiant.  
“Are we sure this is a federation ship”   
“She’s not like any I’ve ever seen” Tom replies, “but she looks federation, design’s unmistakable, warp signature matches too”  
“Tuvak?”  
“We have encountered alien ships disguised as the federation before, we cannot rule out the possibility of a deception, however it does appear that they are badly damaged”  
“Are they sending out a distress call?”  
“Only the standard federation SOS”  
“Hail them”  
“Captain, I advise caution”  
She turns t her security chief, face set in determination. “And I will take that under advisement, but if there’s even the slightest chance these people are who they appear to be then I have got to investigate, besides, something brought us here, and we’re not going to find anything else out by just sitting here”  
“I advise that we go to red alert, and raise shields”  
She nods curtly “do it, and open a channel”  
“This is captain Kathryn Janeway of the star ship Voyager, identify yourselves”  
For a moment the only reply is silence, Janeway turns to Tuvak, “are they reading us?”  
“Sensors show they are receiving our transmission, however, their systems are badly damaged, they may not have external communications online”   
“Damn, keep the channel open, and maintain red alert, we don’t want to be-“  
“Captain, I’m receiving a reply, it’s audio only, and badly garbled, but it’s definitely a reply”  
“Put it through Ensign Kim”  
Static buzzes through the com system, between this the words “Captain Sisko” “USS Defiant” and “in need of assistance” can just be made out.   
“Sisko!” Janeway exclaims, “I know that name, Harry, can you clear it up at all”  
“No, sorry captain, the problems on their end”  
Suddenly the com crackles to life again, and a familiar voice fills the deck.  
“I repeat, this is captain Benjamin Sisko of the USS Definat, do you read us?”  
Janeway motions for Harry to open the channel.  
“This is Captain Janeway, we read you”  
“I’m sorry, did you say Janeway?”  
“Indeed I did Captain, I have to say, you’re a long way from home”  
She hears him sigh down the line, “I must admit, I was hoping the sensors were glitching”   
“Sorry Captain” she says, “you’ll forgive me, I hope if I don’t just take you at your word, we’re a long way from home, and this isn’t the first time we’ve run into federation ships”  
“And you’ll forgive me, if I’m a little sceptical the whole thing as well”  
“Of course”  
“We’ve taken heavy damage, it’s going to take days to get our warp core back online, our weapons are offline and we’ve got injured people here we’re not equipped to treat. To put it simply, we need your help”  
She exchanges looks with her crew, and signals for the com to be muted.  
“Our sensor readings are consistent with their claim” Tuvak informs her,  
“We’ve got to help them, Captain, if there’s even the smallest chance there’s injured people on that ship” Chakotay moves towards her, ever the voice of compassion.   
“I agree, but they come to us, I’m not sending my people over there “  
“A wise precaution, I suggest we beam the injured and their doctor directly to sickbay and schedule a meeting with their Captain to discuss the situation”  
Janeway nods curtly, "agreed."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ACTUAL moment you have all been waiting for!  
> In which I overuse italics, Julian disregards authority and someone REALLY should have mentioned the whole, Marquis thing before they tried to bring a Cardassian on board.  
> (alternative chapter summery; YUP.... That went well!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written by a sleep deprived uni student who just finished panicking over assignments so if you see errors please tell me.  
> If you're still reading this, I love you, thank you for being patient. Sorry this chapter's so short, next one will hopefully be up soon.  
> Enjoy!

In hindsight, it probably would have been wise to inform their hosts they were bringing a Cardassian on board. In fairness, Sisko reasons, had he known he was going to beam on to a ship full of former Marquis members he might have thought to mention it.  
Everything was going fine. Janeway’s willingness to trust him was something of a surprise, even if she did insist he bring only his first officer, his security chief and his wounded. Ten minutes after their initial conversation, Kira, Odo, Sisko and Garak, supported mostly by Julian, materialise in voyager’s sickbay. Their welcoming party consists of what appears to be a good portion of the senior staff, a small security detail and the doctor.  
There’s a brief moment of calm, Sisko’s gaze lands on Janeway and he finds himself met with a very familiar gaze. They may have only met a handful of times, but she sure knows how to make an impression. He starts towards her, diplomatically chosen introductions on his tongue, when several things happen.  
“HEY! That’s a Cardassian!” a very observant security officer points out.  
His apparently less observant and more impulsive companion pulls a phaser, aiming it steadily in Garak’s direction. This wouldn’t be so bad, if the majority of the people in room hadn’t followed suit, although Sisko is briefly, and gratefully aware of the fact that neither the captain, nor her chief of security show any signs of shooting them.  
Behind him Kira pulls her own phaser, Odo, metaphorical hackles rising, moves forward, and Julian rather decisively, and, in Sisko’s opinion, rather unnecessarily places himself between the offending security guards and Garak.  
“Hey! Hey, c’mon cut it out!” a youngish officer, with sandy hair and a command coloured uniform barges his way through the ranks, an alarmed but slightly exasperated expression on his face.  
The Vulcan security chief barks a, largely ignored order for his men to stand down.  
“Put your weapons down! NOW” The captains’ tone leaves no room for argument, and the now rather sheepish officers lower their weapons.  
“Get out” Janeway’s voice is low, but no less threatening.  
It’s not until the offending officers have safely left sickbay, with the doors closed firmly behind them that Sisko nods to his crew to stand down. Kira sticks her phaser back in her holster and Odo visibly relaxes, well, by his standards anyway.  
“Well” Sisko steps forward smiling humourlessly, “it seems we’re off to a good start”  
“Captain” she starts, he recognises the look on her face, it’s the same one ever diplomat wears as the attempt damage control, “I assure you that-“  
“With all due respect, I have a patient here who needs medical attention, so maybe we can save the introductions for later” Sisko finds himself wondering, not for the first time, how Julian can talk to his superiors like such and still have a job.  
“Yes!” The EMH steps towards Garak with a tricorder, ignoring the withering look the Cardassian is shooting him.  
“I think there has been quite enough drama in my sickbay for today”  
He consults his scanner with an air of disdain  
“Uhuh! I’m afraid; I’m going to have to insist you leave.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Garak is once again a terrible patient despite not actually having any lines, the doctor is.... The doctor and Sisko and Janeway have a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is actually awful how long it's been since I updated this. All I can say is I'm sorry it's been so long, I'll try to up date in a more sensible amount of time from now on and thanks for reading!

“So?” Tom Paris leans towards the other man, “Tell me, doc, he always like that?”

Julian, apparently satisfied with the bio-beds read out, turns to the lieutenant.

“No” he says, “usually, he’s worse”

Tom whistles, long and low, “boy am I glad he’s not one of my patients!”

“You’re a medical assistant Mr Paris, not a doctor, you don’t _have_ patients”

Tom rolls his eyes theatrically as the EMH joins them, “none the less” he continues, “I must say I concur”

“Oh.” Julian aims a fond smile at the bio-bed they’re standing in front of. Or more accurately, at the unconscious Cardassian it currently holds. “he’s not so bad.”

The EMH moves towards the console, forcing Julian to step out of his way to avoid a collision. There he begins to examine the read out with an air of suspicion, humming occasionally to himself.

Julian, looking somewhat affronted, peers over the EMH’s shoulder.

“Is there-,” Julian shifts irately, trying to get a better look at the console, “is there a problem?”

“Hum? No, no I don’t believe so.” The other doctor continues to study the console with an air of disdain.

“I must say doctor Bashir, I am impressed! This is good work. A little heavy on the sedatives maybe. But give out patients, ah _attitude_ , well I’ll forgive you for that eh?” he quirks an eyebrow knowingly in Julian’s direction.

“In all seriousness doctor there are _several_ miscalculations in these drug doses. Now I know it’s hard for someone as newly qualified as yourself but really. These are dangerous drugs and-“

“I think perhaps it’s you who's mistaken _doctor_. If you look again I’m sure you’ll find my calculations are all in order.” Julian’s voice is clipped. From behind them Tom smirks, leaning against a bio-bed and wishing for a bag of pop-corn.

“Well honestly. there’s no need to be rude. I was simply going to offer to show you how to do it properly. I’d have thought that a young doctor like yourself would jump at the chance to learn from the best”

Julian huffs in frustration and shoulders the other man out of the way. “If you’ll look properly doctor.“ He jabs the console with rather more force than necessary, bringing up a different read out. “You'll see that my _errors_ are simply adjustments to his Cardassian physiology. Which given I've worked on a Cardassian station for the past five years, I can assure you I know more about!”

“Ooooohhh! Ouch!” Tom, and his somewhat malicious smirk moves from the side-lines. patting the EMH hard on the shoulder in mock compassion, “That’s _gotta_ hurt!”

“But.” he continues, ignoring the withering look the doctor’s shooting him. “Much as I’d love to stay and watch the show, I’ve gotta run”

Julian pauses, glancing between Garak and the murderous looking hologram.

“Say, Lieutenant Paris!” Julian jogs to catch up to the other man, “don’t I recall you saying something about a tour of this _fine_ ship!”

 

 

“Captain Sisko. I assure you that you’re officers will be perfectly safe here, but I must ask, what the _hell_ is the meaning of this?”

Janeway’s voice is calm, but firm as she looks across at the other captain, her gaze steely. They’re standing in Voyagers ready room, Janeway behind her desk, arms folded. Sisko is on the visitors side. His back is straight, hands clasped behind his back, a look of controlled rage on his features.

“I think I should be the one asking that! I know things between the federation and Cardassia are bad, but I didn’t think they were that bad. What in god’s name promted that reaction?”

Janeway lets out a measured breath, “It’s, a long story. Why don’t you tell me how you came to have a Cardassian on your crew”

Sisko laughs but his eyes are dark, “it’s a long story”

“Well.” Captain Janeway moves from behind her desk and steps towards the other officer. 

“It appears we have a lot to discus, why don’t you take a seat?” 

she gestures towards the sofa’s on the other side of the room, “Can I get you a drink?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Captains talk some more, and talk to other people, and there is lot's of talking.   
> In all seriousness Janeway and Sisko are my faviourite Captains and exploring how they'd interact has been an interesting process so hopefully I've it some justice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This up date took a little longer than I would've liked but I wanted this chapter to be longer than the others because I realised I have just been uploading like 500 words at a time.

Sisko laughs, there’s no humour in it only disbelief tinged with resignation.

“That’s of _hell_ of a story!”

Janeway smirks. “I could say the too you, Captain. Dominion, Cardassian spies, stable worm holes! With all due respect, how do I know you’re not just making this up? How do I know you are who you say you are?”

Sisko sighs, and shifts forward in his seat. “You don’t. And, all due respect, how do _I_ know you are who you say you are? Voyager hasn't been heard from in _four_ years. And now I'm supposed to believe it's really you, sitting in front of me? How do I know this isn't a trick?”

“You don’t!” Janeway throws her hands in the air and pushes herself out of her seat to stand by the window.

“I want to trust you. I really do” She turns back to him, spreading her arms. “I want us to be able to work together to get both our crews home. But if there’s even the slightest chance that you’re not who you say you are, that you’re a threat to my people, well. I just can’t take that risk”

Sisko nods, “I understand and believe me I share your concerns. Right now my crew’s vulnerable and you’re not. I can’t afford to take risks with their safety.”

Captains study each other. Neither of their gazes is quite hostile, but they’re not quite friendly either. For a moment they pause, sizing each other up, strategizing, and calculating.

Janeway breaks first. “That said, if there’s even the slightest chance you really are Benjamin Sisko then I've got to help you. Haven't I?"

Sisko nods, sympathetic to her struggle. “And I can’t let my ship stay dead in the water much longer. Simply put, Captain I need you and your crew.”

Janeway throws her hands in the air, frustrated. “This is ridiculous, there’s got to be something we can do to prove to each other if what we say is true”

“Well, if you have a suggestion, I’m all ears”

“I don’t” Janeway sighs. “But, my crew might, I think it’s high time I called a proper meeting.”

Sisko nods, “and I think it’s high time I got back to my ship.”

“What about our Cardassian friend?”

“Well, it’s your sick bay he’s currently in, so I rather think I should be the one asking you that”

Janeway smiles softly. “He’s free to remain here as long as medically necessary, you have my word he’ll be perfectly safe.”

Sisko nods his thanks, before adding, somewhat sheepishly “my CMO will want to stay too.”

“I rather thought he might. They’re close, aren’t they?” It’s not a question.

“I don’t recall mentioning that.”

“You didn’t have too. You have to learn to read people if you want to be Captain, after all.”

“That you do. That you do.”

They share a knowing look.

“I’ll see you and your officers back to the transporter bay. I’ll be in touch when I’ve discussed it with my crew. But I’m warning you now. I see _anything_ suspicious on your ship and _I will not hesitate_ to protect my crew by any means necessary. I trust we have an understanding.”

 

Janeway is met by a cacophony of voices. Each expressing its desire to help their new found friends at a different volume. She takes a moment, to survey her senior officers, and to hopefully let them get it out of their system’s before starting the actual meeting.

Tuvok, Chakotay and Seven are the only three to remain silent. Tom and Harry, customarily seated next to each other, are both of the opinion that the defiant is their way back home.

Neelix is on the opposite side of the table, having managed to position himself next to Tuvok. The Telaxian is already planning some sort of celebratory feast. 

B’Elanna on the other hand is rather loudly demanding caution. Seated at the end of the table the Doctor is of course also adding his voice to the fray. But Janeway doesn’t even want to know what his opinion on the matter is. 

In their credit when she calls for order she gets it.

“You all know the situation, so I won’t waste time telling you things you already know. Now, obviously, if that really is a federation ship, and crew out there then we have to help them. But I won’t risk my crew until I am absolutely sure they are who they say they are, so I need a way to prove that.”

There’s a few seconds of silence before the sound of someone clearing their throat draws attention to the far side of the room.

“I think, I may be able to help you there.” The Doctor announces, his usual air of smugness is particularly potent.

Janeway takes a deep breath before focusing her attention on the man.

“Go on.”

“Well, now, you see. I anticipated that a situation like this may arise. and, since we have a member of their crew on board. And, since I am blessed with superior programming and foresight than-“

“Would you _please_ get to the point” B’Elanna growls at him

The doctor huffs affronted and glares in her direction. “As I was saying! I took the liberty of running some scans on our Cardassian friend”

“And?” Janeway prompts.

“Well. I don’t know about any of the others of course but that is _definitely_ a Cardassian we have sitting in our sickbay. And, I can’t tell you their doctor is definitely human but I can tell you he knows what he’s doing. He’s not as good as me, of course, be he is good”

Tom snorts loudly, awkwardly covering with fake coughing when his co-workers turn to look.

Ignoring the interruption Janeway ponders the doctors input for a moment. “Well it certainly adds credibility to their story, but it doesn’t prove it. We need more”

“Um.” Harry clears his throat and leans into the table. “I’ve been running scans of their ship. Their shields are down, so I’ve been able to get some pretty detailed readings. She’s not like anything I’ve ever seen. They’ve got state of the art technology and weapons, some of this stuff…. I don’t even know what it _does_ But…. Captain, they have a cloak-“

“Well that settles it then!” B’Elanna smacks her hand down on the table. “Star fleet doesn’t have cloaking technologies! There’s no way they’ve gotten one working in four years! It must be a trick”

“Not necessarily. The cloak has a Romulan signature. It’s been altered to work with federation technology, but it’s definitely Romulan”

“Romulan?” Janeway frowns “well that raises more questions than it answers”

“I think I may have a suggestion”

“Oh?” Janeway turns to her security officer.

“If we combine the doctor and ensign Kim’s scanning techniques. We can apply them to the situation in a more extensive way. Hopefully we can get a more detailed analysis of these people and of their ship. ”

“Are you suggesting scanning every single member of their crew?” Chakotay raises an eyebrow at the other officer.

“Yes. And their ship, inside and out. Whilst there is still a possibility that our scanners will not be able to detect their deception. I believe that, combined with other security measures this will suffice. I would also suggest a thorough analysis of their computer system and archives.”

“It’s a start.” The captain nods. “Doctor, you may as well find Dr Bashir and start your scans with him. Harry, Seven. I want you to being more extensive scans of their ship. As much detailed as possible, if anything about that ship is off I want to know. B’Elanna I want you to being preparations for repairing their ship-“

“Captain-“

“That’s an _order_ Lieutenant”

B’Elanna nods, curtly, “yes, ma’am”

“Tuvok. I want you to work on security measures, no doubt we’re going to be seeing a lot more of Captain Sisko’s crew.”

Tuvok nods.

“Tom, head down to sickbay, the doctors going to need your help. Chakotay you come with me. We’re going to see if Captain Sisko has an explanation for the romulan cloaking device on his ship”

Chakotay and Janeway share a smile; he gets out of his chair and moves towards the exit, gesturing for her to go first.

“Oh! Um? Captain, what about me?” Neelix’s voice bounces behind them as they leave. Janeway once again glances at her first officer and grins.


End file.
